Love's Lir
by Jenn Lynne
Summary: 1XR AU (("In Heero's language... Tahlmorra lujhala mei wiccan, cheysu. It means, roughly, the fate of a man rests always within the hands of the gods."))
1. Prologue

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Author's Note: This story is an AU and is sort of a crossover with a book called Shapechanger's Song: Chronicles of the Cheysuli, By: Jennifer Roberson. Basically I took her world. But you DO NOT have to read that book to understand this story. I will explain everything that you need to know in it. I would recommend the book(s) though I have not yet finished it. Yeah, anyway, enjoy.

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Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimer applies for both Gundam Wing and Shapechanger's Song.

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Love's Lir

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Prologue

Her brush strokes slid across the canvas in a barrage of color, dark sky and bright moon… beautiful. She tucked a few stray locks of golden hair behind her ear and bit her lower lip in concentration as she dipped a finer tipped brush into a dark brown, almost black, paint. _This is the most important part, don't mess it up Relena._ She reminded herself as she slowly moved the brush toward the canvas. She squinted and moved her face closer to her most recent painting. A shadowed figure stood under a full moon. He was cast in darkness except for a gleam of light that shined across the gold armband he wore on his left bicep. At his feet a large, dark orange, tiger stood, almost to his hip in height. It was cast in partial darkness, his black stripes fading into the shadows of her painting and one intelligent yellow eye glowing through the night. He was heavy set and big boned, very muscular and almost overbearing. But it wasn't either whom she was so intent upon. In the moon above them an image was reflected… an image of another tiger. This animal was smaller than the large brute by the man's side. His body was streamline and compact. She knew the path of every stripe by heart… a white tiger. The white tigers were rumored to be extinct, but Relena had seen one. 

She had seen it nine years ago. She had been traveling with her father through the woods that led from Homana Majhara to Rheghed the capital of Ellas on her way to her cousin's birthday party. She remembered that day distinctly. She had been eleven at the time and riding silently next to her father who could be a little overbearing himself at times, like the orange tiger. She stared placidly out the window, bored. Then she had seen it flash through the trees. It had her attention immediately and her body became rigid and her heart leaped as she watched in weave between trees in an obviously playful fashion. The driver had seen it too and made a sudden noise and pulled sharply on the horses. The carriage stopped with a jerk.

Relena had burst out the door and run as fast as she could into the woods. She heard footsteps behind her, a large and noisy pursuit had begun. She ran almost blindly, searching for him. She entered a clearing. She heard a low growl and looked up to find him there. His white fur glowed in the early afternoon sun and his stripes were more brown than black. His eyes were a clear and deep blue… intelligent eyes. He made no move toward her, simply stared back. One of the guards burst through the brush behind her and grabbed her arm roughly. Her hair swiveled around her shoulders as she turned. She quickly turned back again, but the tiger was gone. When she had been returned to her carriage her father had scolder her and told her that there were no more white tigers, that is had been a figment of her imagination. The driver had said he stopped simply because he thought he had heard a Cheysuli call and was afraid they had wandered into their territory. Bur Relena knew he had seen it too. Besides the Cheysuli where a myth, they didn't exist.

So it was, as she slowly moved her brush over the canvas in a slow deliberate motion, that she thought of that day. There wasn't a day afterward that she hadn't dreamed about that tiger. The other's were there too, sometimes. The orange tiger was almost always there, but he was never alone, he was always either with the white tiger or the man. The man and the white tiger never met though. Only in her paintings…

A/N: I really hope you enjoyed the prologue, in chapter one we get to meet Heero. Please be considerate and review.


	2. Chapter One: Late

Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimers apply

Love's Lir

Chapter One: Late

Relena nervously brushed the fabric of her forest green gown with her hands again as she hurried back toward town. She had been on her morning ride when her horse had thrown a shoe. Now, with reigns in one hand and her skirt in the other she walked swiftly. She was still at least twenty miles from Majhara and she knew that if she didn't quicken her pace she would not make it home in time to prepare for tonight's party.

Relena's feet ached as she tripped over another stone and nearly fell. She approached the river crossing and looked at it distastefully. There was another crossing further downstream but it was another mile out of the way and she couldn't afford to lose that much time. She sighed. People on horseback did not use this bridge, it was too narrow, too old, and very unstable. She took a deep breath and led the gray Andalusian onto the bridge. The boards creaked and warped under the heavy hooves of her horse and Relena closed her eyes and took a deep breath before carefully walking further onto the bridge.

Relena both felt and heard the snap of the dry cracking wood below her feet. Her horse reared and pushed forward with his hindquarter, pushing passed Relena and landing squarely on the other bank. Relena teetered on the bridge and fell into the railing. That wood cracked too and she was sent headfirst into the cold water of the river.

The current was swift and she was quickly pulled downstream by it. The heavy fabric of her gown weighed her down as she struggled to keep herself above the surface of the water.

"No Dante I don't think he'll be mad that I'm late, I mean I'm only late by a few-" A scream interrupted his words and he turned his Friesian toward the river. His dark blue eyes scanned the western bank as his stubborn locks of chocolate brown hair obstructed his vision.

Another scream filled the silence and he looked closer. He saw her then, in the cold water. His eyes widened and he kicked sharply at his horse. The Friesian jumped at the sudden command and cantered quickly before breaking into a gallop beside the water. It's long black mane and tail flew in the wind as he ran. The man pulled his feet up onto the saddle and pushed himself off it into the water as soon as he got close to the drowning woman.

The water was freezing, his white shirt clung to his chest as he forced himself to keep breathing. He swam desperately toward her screams. When he was almost at arm's length she saw him… Their eye locked for an instant… The helplessness in her aqua colored eyes took his breath away. He reached out to her and she to him. He pulled her toward him with an arm around her waist and immediately started swimming toward the shore where his horse, Kahn, was running along, waiting for them. 

When he had pulled her to the shore and out of the water he noticed that she had stopped breathing. A cold hand gripped his heart as he felt frantically for a pulse. Kahn looked on silently from above while his master began mouth to mouth. There was a long moment of silence as he put his mouth over hers and blew in. She coughed, choked and a fair amount of water came up from her lungs. She coughed several more times and rolled onto her side. He stroked her back in a calming fashion.

She turned to him once all the water was out of her lungs. Neither said anything as they looked at each other. She reached her hand up and brushed the hair from his eyes. When she moved her hand away if fell back and he couldn't help but chuckle, his hair was always stubborn. She smiled slightly.

"Thank you." She said very quietly. She was still lying on her side so he settled down next to her in the grass, still breathing heavily from the excursion but happy that it had turned out alright.

"You don't have to thank me my Lady. Are you alright?" He said softly back, smiling.

"I certainly am now." She sat up and he followed. She shivered visibly from the water that had soaked and chilled her to the bone. 

He frowned and stood, moving toward the beautiful black horse that towered over them both. He started looking through his saddlebag. "My name is Heero." He said without looking up.

"Relena." She answered simply, watching him curiously. He pulled a thick black cape from his saddlebag. It was made of a strange material that felt like crushed velvet and warmed like wool. He walked over to Relena and she stood, looking at it curiously. It was solid black with a hood and he wrapped it around her, clasping the two tiger clasp, one made of gold and one of silver, at her throat. She looked at him thankfully. She saw him smile, his smile was wonderful and friendly. She looked more closely at him. He had just the tiniest hint of dimples when he smiled, and his eyes laughed playfully. He wore a simple white long sleeve shirt, which was soaked and sticking to his every curve, she noted, and brown slacks with tall brown leather riding boots. He looked cold but said nothing of it.

"So Relena" he began, "what exactly happened anyway? I mean to get you into the river."

Relena frowned at the memory. "Well, I was rushing home to a party because my horse had thrown a shoe and I was thrown off the bridge."

"Not the foot bridge?"

"Yes." She replied. He looked startled. "I was in a rush I didn't have time to get to the other one, not on foot."

He looked up river, the direction that she had come. "Where is the party?"

"The capital, Majhara."

He frowned and sighed. "You're on the wrong side of the river again."

"I know." She said with a downtrodden look on her face. "Where are you headed?"

"Ellas…" he said, once again looking upstream. "Majhara isn't too far out of my way, I'll take you."

She looked at him sharply. "Isn't too far out of your way! It's about fifty miles out of the way."

He chuckled, he was very mild tempered. "Don't worry about it, I'm late anyway, _one_ of us should at least be on time."

Relena was about to argue with him when he did something very unexpected. He approached her very quickly, she almost couldn't see him for a moment and then he was lifting her into the saddle of his large horse. Relena's eyes widened and she held tightly onto the pummel. The Friesian was much larger than the light-footed hunter she road and it made her uneasy. She looked down at Heero to see his smiling face once again. He was enjoying the awkward look she had been making. She stuck her tongue out at him almost without thinking, a very childish action and most unladylike. He laughed right out before hopping up behind her. He slowly moved his arms around her waist and took the reigns in both hands. With a sharp kick of his heels they were off in a canter.

They headed downstream to the bridge and then moved back upstream. They found Relena's horse near the broken footbridge with its reigns tangled in the branches of a tree. Heero had tied the reigns to the saddle of his own horse. Kahn, his horse, was as mild tempered and gentle as his owner.

As they rode to Majhara Relena found herself relaxing more and more with Heero. They talked pleasantly the whole time. Heero, she found out, was on his way home from the Crystal Isle, at the southernmost border of Homana. He had been there apprenticing at a shipyard. He said it was interesting, meeting all sorts of travellers, but he had been very homesick the whole time. What surprised Relena the most was that he hadn't asked to be paid for his services and rather nonchalantly said that it wasn't important to him, he had wanted to expose himself to knew cultures. Relena had been very tempted to tell him the story of when she had traveled to Rheghed, and of the white tiger she had seen, but decided not to. For some reason she didn't think she could take it if Heero thought she had been seeing things.

When they were only about ten minutes away Relena was startled to see something in the bushes to their right. She gasped when she recognized a tiger as it dashed between the bushes. Heero stopped Kahn immediately.

"What?" Heero said into her ear, he was instantly on alert.

"I, I thought I saw…" She closed her eyes a moment and opened them again. "I must have been seeing things."

He seemed to relax. "Did you see Dante? He's, well, kind of a pet, but more like my best friend."

She turned to look at him. She could feel his warm breath on her face and had to force herself to focus. "Is Dante a tiger?"

He smiled. "Yes."

She sighed heavily in relief. "Than yes, I saw Dante. What kind of a person has a pet tiger?"

He chuckled. "Me I guess, and like I said he's not really a pet, he's a part of me. Anyway, he's nervous around people he doesn't know, that's why he's hiding."

With that said Heero gave Kahn a little prompting and he began a trot, which quickly became a canter. She had met many people with strange pets from monkeys to small weasel like creatures called ferrets. Relena watched the bushes closely, hoping for another glimpse of Dante. She thought of the painting she had completed yesterday. _Could Heero be the man in my dreams, and Dante the orange the tiger?_

"Heero is Dante an orange tiger?"

"Yes." He said simply.

"Do you think that the white tiger is really extinct?" She wanted to look at him again but was afraid the shift would throw her off balance and she'd fall.

"No, I think they are still out there, staying deep into the forests where humans are too afraid to travel because of the Cheysuli." He said all this very calmly, like he had contemplated the subject before.

Relena frowned at the reference to the mythic race of Cheysuli. She wondered if he believed such stories. She didn't dare ask, she really didn't want to think less of him, and she knew that if he believed in them, than she would be compelled to as well… and she had argued so many times with so many people about the existence of such things. _Cheysuli, give me a break._

She didn't see Dante again, and when they entered the city Heero told Dante to wait for him where he was, but the animal never _appeared_, Heero just seemed to know where he was.

It was nearly dark; Relena was still wet from the river and decided it would be wise to go straight to the party. Catherine was sure to have something dry she could put on and if she went home wet she would never hear the end of it. 

So Relena led Heero to Catherine's large estate at the eastern end of the city and he pulled to a stop in front of the large wooden doors. He dismounted and turned so as to help Relena down. She slid off the saddle into his arms and he held her there a moment.

"Thank you again Heero, for everything."

He opened his mouth to say that he needed no thanks, but words never came. Relena pulled his face to hers and kissed him deeply. She knew the moment it had begun that she shouldn't have. It was improper, unheard of for a Lady and Relena knew she shouldn't have presumed any affection from Heero, he was simply a gentleman. But all of her worries were laid to rest when he moved his hands around her waist and pulled her closer, pressing her against him.

They heard the door begin to open and moved apart abruptly. Lawrence stood there, looking curiously down at her. She turned back to Heero only to find that he was gone. Only her horse stood there, with its missing shoe, and tired face.

"Miss Relena are you alright?" Lawrence asked, genuinely concerned.

"Yes Lawrence I'm fine. My horse threw a shoe can you have someone take care of him for me and can you get Catherine, I'm going to need to borrow some dry cloths." She moved up the stairs into the hall and waited for Catherine. She straightened herself, and looked down at her rumpled, damp dress and gasped. She was still wearing his cape. She pulled the black fabric around herself and breathed in deeply. The scent of pine filled her lungs, pine and something else, something husky. She reveled in the smell of Heero. _It wasn't a dream this time, he was real and this is the proof._ Catherine entered the hall and her eyes widened as she looked at her friend.

"Relena you're soaked to the bone!" Catherine yelled. _Always the dramatic…_

"Catherine I'm just damp, that's all. I just want to know if I can borrow a dress?" Relena replied looking again at her forest green gown.

"Of course, but why are you wet and why are you wearing Heero's cape?" Catherine's eyebrows were up and she smiled at the look on Relena's face when she mentioned Heero. 

"How do you know…"

She gently touched the two intertwined tigers at Relena's throat. "Heero Yuy, he's a great guy isn't he?" Cathy said, not elaborating. "So why are you all wet?"

"My horse threw a shoe and I tried to take the footbridge so as not to be late and well, fell off."

Catherine shook her head. "And let me guess, Heero was on his way back from the Crystal Isle on his Friesian, Kahn, with his tiger Dante and saw you and saved you, just like is in his nature."

Relena just looked at Cathy. _Could it be that everyone knew Heero? Could he have the same effect on everyone he encountered? _She didn't want it to be true. She wanted…

"Where is he now? Did he bring you all the way here?" Cathy asked, leading Relena upstairs.

"Yes he brought me here but then he disappeared before my eyes… I don't know where he is." Relena replied.

"He tends to do that. My guess would be that he slipped in downstairs amongst the guests," she opened the door to her bedroom and entered, moving quickly to the closet "our guards are good, but not good enough… to Heero's standards." She was looking through the cloths now and Relena began to take her own gown off. 

A servant entered, a woman, and she silently helped Relena remove the dress. Relena had been doing it without removing the cape, not wanting to lose its warmth. The servant removed the cape without a word, completely unaware of Relena's glare. Her undergarments were also damp so those were quickly removed. The servant moved to a nearby dresser to retrieve some dry ones as Cathy turned around with a beautiful silver dress in hand, embroidered around the edges and glimmering in the lamplight. 

"This will do." Cathy said. Relena just stared at her, the dress must have cost a fortune. "Don't look at me like that it was a gift and is too small for me, besides I don't look good in silver."

The servant had returned and was fitting her in her undergarments and then the dress was pulled on over her head. Cathy walked to the vanity and returned with a brush, taking down Relena's hair and combing it as the servant laced the back of the dress up. 

When Relena entered the room more than a few heads turned in recognition and not one looked displeased at her appearance. Catherine was at her side as they descended the stairs into the gathering room, almost as big as the ballroom in the Palace. Relena's eyes scanned the crowd. She knew who she was looking for… Heero.

The room broke out into applause at the arrival of the princess and the guests began to crowd around the staircase. She looked for Heero but didn't see him, or Catherine's brother Trowa. She sighed heavily and began to greet the crowd. 

The crowd of onlookers had just begun to fill out when Trowa approached her from behind and wrapped his arms around her shoulders in an affectionate manner. Relena had spent most of her childhood playing with Cathy and looked at Trowa as she would an older brother.

"Now Relena, that was a very stupid thing to do, going on the footbridge with a horse just to get to our party." He reproached.

She turned, indignant. "I can't believe Cathy told you already, I've been here but five minutes." And then she saw him, with a large grin plastered on his face… Heero Yuy. He stood at Trowa's shoulder, smiling mischievously.

"Actually," Trowa said putting an arm around Heero's shoulders, "it was Heero who told me."

Relena smiled at them as Cathy approached.

"Heero! It has been too long." Cathy said as she walked over to him and gave him a hearty hug. 

"Indeed Catherine." He relied as she began to cut off his oxygen. Relena laughed.

"Trowa you're so RUDE!" Cathy yelled, releasing Heero. "He's soaking wet! You would not provide him with some warm cloths?" She punched Trowa in the shoulder and he looked pleadingly at Heero.

"No Catherine." Heero smoothed after a moment's pause. "I was just on my way upstairs to borrow some cloths but wanted to say goodbye since I would be on my way right afterward."

Cathy looked as though she believed him, though the sigh from Trowa told Relena that that had not been formerly discussed.

"You're very late you know." Cathy said to Heero. "Your sister was here yesterday, said you were supposed to arrive at noon today. At this rate you won't be there until morning, and that's if you ride all night."

Heero smiled in his very charming way and gave Cathy another hug. "I'll be off then." He turned to Trowa and shook his hand and then he turned to Relena and engulfed her in a huge hug. "Now Relena," he said once he released her, seeing her flush, "promise me you'll be more careful."

"I promise." She said with a smile.

He nodded approvingly. "Alright, how does Thursday sound to you all. We'll meet for lunch." Trowa and Cathy nodded, Heero looked at Relena. "Will you come?" he asked her.

"I wouldn't miss it." Relena replied, smiling widely. 

As Heero began to walk away Trowa yelled out to him, "Hey Heero! You can invite Aresa too, if you want."

Heero turned and continued walking, just backwards. "Yes Trowa I will invite my sister. I don't know why I'm surprised you still have a crush on her. See you Thursday."

Trowa blushed a deep crimson, and Cathy laughed whole heatedly at him. Relena watched Heero until he had disappeared upstairs.

Once Cathy had regained her composure she turned to Trowa. "I told you, you weren't fooling anyone."

((A/N: I want to thank everyone who reviewed! You guys rock.

Andrina: Thank you for reviewing. Yeah, something like that. You shouldn't put yourself down, that wasn't slow. No, white tigers are not extinct. In fact the color white in tiger isn't a breed it's just a recessive gene, like blue eyes, they're rare in the wild, but not extinct. 

Jaid Skywalker: Thank you so much for reviewing. I hope you didn't have to wait too long.

Maki Tatsu: Thanks for the review. I really hope I live up to your expectations, I've already been told that if I mess this up and disgrace the book I'll be severely beaten, so you needn't worry. Like I said I'm only in the middle of the first one (slow reader) but I plan on reading them all. This is a slightly AU from the books too, but not too much.

Aieki Chan: Thanks for reviewing, I hope I didn't take too long getting this out. : )

Chibizaza: Thank you for the review. ::rubbing hands together:: hmmmm. I wonder who the man is, and the tigers? MWAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!! ::evil smiles:: I'm glad you like it so far and hope you continue to enjoy.

REVIEWS ALWAYS WELCOME!!!))


	3. Chapter Two: Tahlmorra

Standard Disclaimer applies

A/N: ENJOY!!!

Chapter Two: _Tahlmorra_

Her dreams had always been a constant, unchanging, norm for Relena. That is they were, until she met Heero Yuy. One afternoon with the man and already her dreams were crowded with his image. He had morphed himself into the man who had always been in her dreams, but now she saw his face and he was Heero. And the tiger… the orange tiger… she knew it was Dante, it had to be.

Relena walked over to her bed and picked up the black cloak that lay there… Heero's cloak. She wrapped it around her shoulders and breathed in deeply.

"Now Relena, I don't want to hear anymore of this foolishness." King Julius said sternly to his youngest daughter. The King had been blessed with three beautiful daughters: Sally was the oldest and wisest of the three, Dorothy was the middle child, strong, cunning, but a bit of a Tom Boy, and then there was Relena… she had to be the most beautiful of the sisters, the most vibrant and full of life, but defiant of her position. "Lord Bastion is coming to see you today, he has been calling on you all week and you have been refusing him because of your _work_." Relena's eyes flashed dangerously at her father. "Now I don't mean to demean your work, you're a wonderful painter dear, but you cannot continue to ignore a Lords attention. You will send an apology to Trowa and Catherine, they will understand your duties."

Relena felt a surge of panic, if she didn't go to lunch with Trowa and Cathy she wouldn't see Heero. "No Father!" Relena nearly yelled, her eyes were windows into her soul at that moment, she could not hide when she was thinking of Heero. "I have to go today, it's very important."

Julius looked down at his daughter curiously. She was never like this. Out of his three daughters Relena was the most in control of her emotions, she had the best 'game face', those unbreakable walls protecting the vulnerable psyche of a girl of standing. He nodded slightly, "Okay, you can go, I will tell Lord Bastion to return tomorrow."

A grin spread quickly across Relena's face as she looked up at her father. He couldn't help the smile that curved his lips.

"Go on or you'll be late."

Trowa, Catherine and Relena followed the river north of Majhara, staying close to its shores. They reached a large field with a beautiful old oak tree in its center. They headed toward the oak at a canter, Relena's horse had a new shoe and was performing as though nothing had happened the last time he had seen the river. Catherine and Trowa rode on similar looking dun Akhal-tekes, the only real difference was size, Trowa's being about a hand or so taller. They stopped at the tree and dismounted. Cathy had brought the food and a blanket and spread it out under the tree as Trowa tied the horses to a low branch on the other side.

"Now let's see…" Trowa said once his task was complete. He was looking straight up at the tree. He jumped, grabbing a branch in his hands and pulling himself up. Relena watched as he climbed higher. He looked out at the woods upstream. "I can't see them!" he yelled down.

"Trowa dear brother, they have farther to travel then we do." Catherine yelled back. Relena laughed a little.

Trowa cupped his hands around his mouth and let out a long howl, like a wolf. Cathy rolled her eyes, but just as she was about to say something about it two distant howls joined his. She looked back at Relena. "That would be Heero and Aresa." she stated with a shake of her head. Relena watched the woods intently as Trowa climbed down the tree. She saw Heero first. Who could miss the huge black horse emerging from the woods at a gallop? Then she saw who had to be Aresa. Her horse was tiny compared to her brother's, a small chestnut Arabian, possibly a pony. As they got closer she noticed that Aresa's hair was brown like Heero's, long, possibly down to her knees, or longer, but her eyes were also brown, instead of Heero stunning sapphire.

As they got closer Relena smiled. Heero made eye contact and smiled back. Then all of the sudden Trowa was tackled to the ground. Relena looked at him in shock to find the illusive orange tiger Dante standing on his chest, licking his face. Trowa's arms were trying to push Dante away as he made noises of disgust, yet smiling. Heero and Aresa slowed and dismounted. Instead of tying their horses they removed the bridals and saddles and let them loose. Trowa had gotten himself out from under Dante and was talking quietly to Aresa who smiled brightly.

Dante sauntered over to Catherine. Relena's eyes were riveted to him. _It is the orange tiger from my dreams!_ Catherine leaned over and scratched behind Dante's ears, he looked to be enjoying himself. Cathy turned away from him to unpack the food. Dante turned to Relena and cocked his head to one side. His intelligent yellow eyes looked curiously at her. He walked up to her, sniffing the wind.

"He won't hurt you." Heero's smooth deep voice sent chills up her spine. She knew he was behind her and had to consciously stop her body from leaning back in an attempt to touch him. "Come here." He said, moving beside her and taking her hand. They knelt together in front of Dante. "Dante, this is Relena, Relena this is Dante."

Relena smiled at the formality in Heero's voice but gasped when Dante bowed before her. She giggled as Heero moved her hand toward Dante. Dante himself fell onto his side and then sprawled out on his back. Relena's hand came in contact with the soft fur of Dante's chest. He purred affectionately and Relena smiled.

"He's very happy to be back." Heero informed her, releasing her hand and standing. He walked over to Catherine and offered her assistance in unpacking.

Relena rubbed Dante vigorously and he closed his eyes in enjoyment. A dull pounding made Relena look up in shock. It was Kahn, Heero's Friesian. Kahn stood over then, pawing one hoof into the ground and looking intently at Dante. If tigers could smirk Relena would have sworn she saw one form on Dante's lips as he lunged at the huge black animal. Dante jumped on Kahn's back, who took off at a run, bucking the whole way trying to get the tiger off. Once he had done this he ran and Dante followed in a friendly game of tag. Every once and awhile Dante would turn and Kahn would chase him.

Relena scanned the field for Aresa's small Arabian. It had wandered toward the river and was resting under the shade of a tree there. She looked back at the group of people around her. The attraction between Trowa and Aresa was obvious. They were both deeply enamored with each other. She wondered for a moment if it was love… She then turned to Heero and Cathy. Cathy had refused Heero's assistance and was unpacking steadily on her own, carefully and gently removing the contents and setting them on the blanket. Heero was under the shade of the tree, sprawled out on his back much like Dante had been. Relena had the sudden urge to go over to him and rub his belly, thinking he would close his eyes in contentment. A bubble of laughter escaped her when she thought of the similarity between the human and his tiger.

She walked over to Heero and settled down in the grass beside him, picking at various blades of it as a distraction. His eyes were closed and he didn't seem to notice her.

"What's it like?" He asked, abruptly breaking the awkward silence Relena felt.

"What's what like?" She replied, unsure of what he was talking about.

"Being royal." He said as he cracked open one eye a little.

"What makes you think I'm royal?" Relena dodged, careful for a carefree tone.

"Perhaps it was the people bowing to you at Trowa and Cathy's… or maybe I asked Trowa if you were."

She frowned. "I don't like being royal."

"Is that why you try to hide it?"

"Yes," she looked up at Trowa and Aresa standing in sun, just enjoying each other's company. "and at the same time a huge no."

He looked at her curiously and she sighed. He wasn't asking to make conversation, he wanted to know. She looked back at Kahn and Dante. "I hate obligation. Not responsibility, that's something different, this is obligation, this is stupid traditions that do nothing but hurt people." 

He looked confused, "You're not talking about obligation in general, you're talking about something specific."

His intuition astounded her and she just stared at him a moment. He suddenly seemed a strange creature, one more of emotion than flesh and blood. She didn't understand him. How could a person go through life without any walls? He was completely vulnerable, and what's more, completely comfortable with it. "I believe in love, pure love. A princess is obligated to marry politically, love is rarely, if ever, a factor."

He seemed shocked, but nodded in understanding. "The rules of my culture are very similar, yet infinitely different. It's curious. I understand your plight, but there is a conflict inside me because of the system in which I was raised the goes around such a condition." She looked curiously at him so he elaborated. "When I marry it may or may not be for love. Political weddings are very common amongst my people. However, we have _meijha_. A _meijha_ is what you would call, a mistress, sort of. She would be the man's true love partner. If his marriage is political, both he and his _majhara_, his wife, would know and understand this and would stay together for the good of the people, if not for themselves, but he is still allowed his happiness. The _meijha_ is welcome and honored amongst our people, she has made a sacrifice for the good the masses. She will spend her life with the man she loves, in the open, there is no hiding, no disgrace involved. She is simply the woman he loves, the one he wants by his side."

Relena's eyes were wide as she assimilated this knew and profound information. It was startling. Her immediate reaction was to call it unethical and an excuse for men to stray but she refrained. He made sense in a strange way. "Would you ever do it?"

"Would I marry a woman I didn't love, and make the woman I love my _meijha_? I don't know if I'm built for it." He shook his head as if trying to clear away his own clouded psyche. "I would think I am a man of monotony, but if it came to that, I don't think I could make a decision that would make two people miserable." He shook his head again. "I don't know. Perhaps I have spent too much time around Homanans."

It was a welcome deflection for some reason. Relena was very curious about Heero's people, but did not want to upset his mood. She wondered what they called themselves. She looked again at Aresa's Arab pony laying by the river in cool shade. It suddenly seemed more lonely than content.

"Heero, your _lir_ is about to get into trouble." Trowa said as he turned to them. 

Heero stood and Relena followed his gaze to where Dante was standing on a log that hung over the water and was making spitting noises at Kahn who couldn't reach him.

"Dante!" Heero called, his voice a mixture of emotion Relena could not seem to separate.

Dante's yellow eyes shifted to them. Heero's eyes seemed to unfocus and a sort of silent communication took place. After a long moment Dante carefully climbed down the log back onto the solid ground and began a slow trot in their direction. Heero sat back down beside her calmly as Cathy announced that it was time to eat.

As the meal slowly winded down Relena remembered the word Trowa had used in regard to Dante. She turned to him, "What did you mean by _lir_?"

Trowa looked startled, as if caught between two conflicting emotions and turned his gaze to Heero.

"Dante is my _lir_." Heero said slowly, as if being careful of his wording. "It's a relationship, like friend. I would say you are my friend and I am yours, Dante is my _lir_ and I am his. You once asked me if he was my pet. He isn't. The relationship is very hard to understand if you come from such a dissimilar culture, but Dante is the other half of me. I am a creature who is born with a hole in my soul, Dante is the missing piece, it is a _lir_-bond… a sacred bond."

Relena nodded her head. She understood what he said, but was having considerable difficulty fathoming such a concept.

At that moment a large brown hawk flew into the clearing above then. It screeched and began to descend. Heero stood and outstretched his arm. The hawk landed deftly. Tied to one leg was a small piece of paper, which Heero removed. Once its burden was dropped the hawk took to the sky again. Heero carefully unwrapped the paper. They all stood and Relena looked over his shoulder at it. It was written in a strange, runic language. Relena looked at the others but Trowa and Cathy's blank stares served to tell her that they could not read it either. Heero whistled between his teeth and Aresa turned toward the forest they had exited as her Arab trotted up beside her and Kahn beside him. They immediately began to saddle their horses.

"Is everything alright?" Relena asked after a moment. 

Heero didn't turn completely to her, but she saw him in profile when he looked out over the forest. She had never seen him so closed. He was suddenly very mechanical, like the soldiers around the palace. The change startled her as his cold tone cut through the air. "Our home has been attacked by raiders."

Relena's stomach dropped. He didn't look like the soldiers. This mask wasn't emotionless, it was all emotion… anger. 

"I'll come." Trowa said firmly, moving around the tree to untie his Akhal-teke. The three didn't spare another word, though Heero glanced back at Relena as they rode away. She saw his anger falter into regret. Had he wanted to spend the rest of the day with her? She stopped herself from answering.

"Relena do you mind if I come with you to the palace? I don't want to be up all night when I know Trowa will most likely not be back with news for a few days."

"Of course Cathy. Besides, there is something I want to show you."

Relena slowly ascended the stairs of the North Tower in the Homana-Majhara Palace. Cathy walked silently behind her.

"No one but my father and sisters have ever been up here." Relena said over her shoulder. Cathy put on a soft smile. "This is very important to me, so you can't laugh."

"Laugh at what? Perhaps you should prepare me."

They reached a solid looking wooden door and Relena turned. "I have been painting all my life, I'm good, or so I'm told. But that's not what's important. When I was eleven my dad and I went to Ellas's capital, Rheghed, for a party. Anyway, on the way there I saw a white tiger." Cathy's eyes widened. "Now, don't laugh, I really did. And since that day I have had dreams about this tiger, and others… I didn't know who they were, until recently…"

Relena opened the door and led the way inside. The sun cast a glow to the polished stone walls in the large circular room. Those walls were lined with paintings, over fifty held in one room.

"I have more, in a storage area."

Cathy could not speak, she stared into the paintings and saw Heero, and Dante… She moved closer to Relena's most recent. She had painted it the day after meeting Heero. His face was clear, completely free of the shadows that bound it in the other paintings.

"Relena, this is_ tahlmorra_!" Cathy breathed out.

"What?"

Cathy raised her hands, palm up and fingers spread in the gesture she had seen Heero do a million times. "In Heero's language... _Tahlmorra lujhala mei wiccan, cheysu_. It means, roughly, the fate of a man rests always within the hands of the gods. It's usually shortened to _tahlmorra_. The hand gesture means the same." She looked Relena in the eye for the first time since entering the room. "It is meant to be. All of it. You're fall in the river, your meeting of the white tiger when you were a child, it was all for a greater purpose."

"What purpose?" Relena was entranced. 

"_Tahlmorra_ Relena. Your purpose. Once you accept that it's there, you may feel it. Feel your _tahlmorra_. When you can feel it, it will guide you."

Trowa didn't return for another three days and when he did return he mumbled in his sleep deprived voice and fell onto the nearest bed. Cathy had sent a message to Relena and she had arrived early the next morning to talk to Trowa when he awoke.

Trowa walked slowly into the large drawing room Relena and Cathy occupied. His movements were sluggish and tired. He slumped into the nearest chair and yawned loudly.

"Well?" Cathy pressed.

"The raiders come looking for Cheysuli gold, thought they could get some and when they didn't get enough for their tastes they burned the place to the ground." He said through grinding teeth.

Relena was startled. _Cheysuli gold? Why would there be Cheysuli gold?_

"Was anyone hurt?" Cathy asked, her displeasure evident in her tone.

"No one was killed, though Heero's father had the worst injuries, he's resting now. They've already started rebuilding. Heero sent me home. He said I looked like hell and you would never forgive him if he ran me to the ground. It's going to take awhile, the complete reconstruction of the whole Keep." He sighed, and then his sigh turned into a yawn and he closed his eyes a moment.

Cathy was shaking her head but seemed at a loss for words. She suddenly remembered Relena was there and glanced at her. "Trowa, I want to show you some of Relena's paintings."

Trowa opened his eyes and looked at Relena curiously. "You paint?"

She nodded silently as Cathy stood and took his arm and led him into another room where the two had put a few of Relena's paintings the day before after deciding they would tell Trowa. Relena waited for them there. 

At one end of the room the stone fireplace stood with a warm fire lit. On one side of the room the windows went from floor to ceiling and the morning sun lighted the room brightly.

When the two reentered the room Trowa stared at Relena in something akin to amazement. He sat down across from her and stared deeply into her eyes for a long moment.

"Your _tahlmorra_ lies with him." He said simply as he blinked and sat up a little straighter, as if satisfied with his own conclusion.

"What are you talking about Trowa, I barely know Heero."

"Yes you do, you've known him all your life. Or since you were eleven… Heero would say the same thing. He always follows his _tahlmorra_."

((A/N: Thank you all for reviewing and please do so again!!!

Sage - Thank you for reviewing! Heero will sometimes slip into that character but I don't believe it happens at all until Chapter three. I'm glad you like this and I agree about the brooding Heero.

White Witch - Thank you for your review! Just wait until I get going ::Rubs hands together:: this HOPEFULLY is not going to be predictable. I hope you continue to enjoy it!

Jem Star - HERE'S MORE! Thanxs for reviewing, I hope to hear more from you in the future!

Darth - I'm glad you like it. I've been trying to make my chapters longer but I'm not really sure if I succeeded. Thank you for reviewing!

Sorrow - Thank you for your words of encouragement. I will keep going! BOOYAH!

Jaxie - I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who likes science fiction. The Cheysuli are fascinating, but I won't say anymore, I don't want to give anything away. Thank you for the compliment. 

Ladybug - And here it is. Thank you for reviewing.

Angeltearz49 - I hope this didn't take too long. You like magic eh? There will be magic in this story, hopefully not to the point of distraction though. Thank you for reviewing.))


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